Google Settling With US Government For $US500m Over Drugs

Google's in a bind. Government regulators will announce later today that they've reached a settlement for Google's showing ads for companies that sell illegal drugs. $US500 million for purported illegal advertising practices. And, this time, it may not be Google fault.

They were more of an unwilling patsy. In truth, Google's has tried to root out advertising scammers for some time, making new rules and even taking some to court. But, as Google complained, such companies, illegal pharmacies included, often find ways to get around Google's policies. Hence the present investigation and expected settlement. The money Google's set aside for the announcement eats into their quarterly earnings by 22%. Ouch. [NYT via TechCrunch]